It's a standard part of the anti-European discourse of the Left that we bear some burden of historic guilt for having grown rich through imperialism and the slave trade. But did we? The short answer is no. A good paper - "Slavery and Imperialism Did Not Enrich
Europe" by Deirdre Nansen McCloskey - exploring these questions can be read here. The truth is it was probably a net drain on our resources. We were paying through the nose to help the rest of the world become more civilised. Did they appreciate us for it? No.

A few highlights are quoted below.

On slavery:

It follows from the unimportance of foreign trade that parts of foreign trade were unimportant, too—at any rate in explaining the doubling of per capita real income in the eighty years from 1780 to 1860 and especially in explaining the subsequent explosion on the way to the factor of sixteen. For example, the trade in slaves, quite a small part of Britain’s or Europe’s trade, could not have been the cause of British or European prosperity. As Stanley Engerman and Patrick O’Brien showed, contrary to Inikori, the so-called profits were too small.

To attribute great importance to a tiny trade would make every small trade important—we are back to the brass industry as a cause of the modern world. As another leading historian of the trade, David Richardson, puts it, “comparisons between earnings from slaving voyages [which Richardson himself has researched on a large scale] with general estimates of eighteenth-century British investment generally suggest, almost without exception, that slave-trading profits could have contributed at best only small amounts to financing early British 4industrial expansion.”

As David Eltis and Stanley Engerman concluded in 2000, in a thorough review of the possible influences, “if the value added and strategic linkages of the sugar industry are compared to those of other British industries, it is apparent that sugar cultivation and the slave trade were not particularly large, nor did they have stronger growth-inducing ties with the rest of the British economy.”

A member of the English Defence League experiences the knee-jerk hatred and violence of the Left.

Unite Against Fascism managed to get hold of my address and they started threatening me. They obviously don’t like what I do, they don’t like the idea that I’m being truthful. And it just got out of hand, sending letters—‘You’re next you Nazi scum, your time will come’—and then one morning around 2 am my Land Rover was set on fire and destroyed.

"The children of middle class migrants are fleeing mixed schools in massive numbers,” reports De Morgen. According to the Brussels daily, the exodus has been prompted by “Moroccans who do not want their children in the same class as East Europeans.” For Antwerp University professor Paul Mahieu, who studies segregation in primary education, schools are faced with a “black flight” that is comparable to the more well known phenomenon of “white flight,” in which parents from the indigenous population withdraw their children from schools with a large proportion of students from foreign backgrounds.

“The flight mechanism” is triggered when the threshold of 30% students from foreign backgrounds is exceeded, and this threshold is 50% for the parents of allochtoons,” explains Paul Mahieu. The researcher believes that the issue is first and foremost a psychological one, because “parents are convinced that teaching is of a higher standard in schools with a high proportion of students from the indigenous population.” He further warns that the phenomenon of flight from schools, which is set to continue, could contribute to social problems. For its part, De Morgen argues that “diversity” in schools does not necessarily amount to a problem. “If we believe that education should act as a driving force in social mobility, schools with a socio-economic mix will continue to be necessary."

I want to send all Muslim families in the United Kingdom and around the world my best wishes for this very special time of Eid.

The ending of the Holy month of Ramadan is a joyous time as families and friends join to together in celebration. This year many of you will come together to contemplate the appalling scenes we have witnessed on our streets and how our communities have been affected. Community spirit however remains strong in this country. I was particularly moved by the scenes of a united community coming together in Birmingham, not only to mourn the deaths of three young friends, but also to issue a strong message of unity and cohesion with people of other faiths.

Peace, forgiveness and unity are the spirit of Eid. They are important messages now and will remain so long into the future.

I wish you all a very happy and peaceful Eid ul Fitr.

Eid Mubarak.

Ed Miliband's:

Eid al-Fitr is a special time of year, marking the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan – the month of prayer, reflection and fasting; of charity, service and giving. It gives people the chance to think about those who are less fortunate than themselves, something which has an even greater significance this year with the devastating drought in East Africa. It brings together friends and families, and encourages Muslims to continue the teachings from the month of Ramadan throughout the rest of the year – helping to build the strong local communities.

As you join together to celebrate, particularly in this time of unrest, we all remember the importance of our shared values of respect, understanding and tolerance towards all people regardless of faith or nationality; values which were so movingly expressed by Tariq Jahan following the tragic loss of his son Haroon. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Muslim community for the work you do here in Britain and I look forward to working with you and people of all faiths or none to build the better society we need.

Did you hear about the mosque shooting in Denmark yesterday? Probably not, because there's been virtually no coverage of it. The reason is simple: this was Muslim-on-Muslim violence. So the powers-that-be decide it's not newsworthy. But imagine this had been another Breivik shooting the Muslims coming out of the mosque. It would have been an international sensation.

This perfectly replicates the Muslim mindset that obsesses about the relatively few Muslims who are killed by non-Muslims in various places around the world (Israel, etc.) but ignores the much larger number of Muslims who are killed by other Muslims. It constitutes further proof that the western media is increasingly assimilating and internalising the Muslim worldview.

One person was killed and two others reported injured in a shooting incident outside the Amerikavej mosque in Copenhagen, where Muslims were congregating to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, the end of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan.

“The incident is related to the people who were present in the mosque, but not necessarily anything to do with the mosque or prayers. It is probably an internal dispute between people of Pakistani origin,” Dep. Chief Inspector Lau Thygesen tells Politiken.dk.

The person killed is reported to be a 21-year-old man. Details of the injured have not been released.

A large congregation was present inside and arriving at the mosque as tumultuous scenes developed outside among a group of young people.

An eyewitness told TV2News that the shooting came following a heated disagreement between young people.

“There was a disagreement between a group of young people and suddenly there were shots. I would say about 20 shots,” Kuran Qureshi said, adding “Everyone ran for cover and hid behind vehicles and whatever they could find. There were women and children there too.”

Police are searching for a heavily-built man, said to be around 30 and wearing a tunic and suede jacket. He is reported to have been driving a green van with number plates beginning with the letters RD.

The number of mosques and Muslim prayer rooms has doubled in France over these last twenty years, going from 1000 to 2000.

In precise terms, the Minister of the Interior and of Religions counts 150 in 1976, 900 in 1985 and 1,555 in 2001. Ten years later there are exactly 2,368 Muslim religious centres, but this falls to 2,052 if Mayotte and the overseas territories are taken away.

In the short term, the president of the Conseil français du culte musulman (CFCM) [French council of the Muslim religion], Mohammed Moussaoui, estimates that between 100 and 150 mosques are in the course of construction. But, for the long term, more than 1000 extra places of worship will be needed to cover the needs of the Muslim community. Equilibrium will be achieved with 3000 mosques and prayer rooms. Other estimates put this equilibrium at 4000 Muslim buildings.

Without going into the financial aspect, at least two questions are begged. That, first of all, of the number of Muslims in France. Absent a census - prohibited on religious criteria, the estimates vary between 2.1 million (last study of INED and INSEE) and 5-6 million for the majority of polling specialists and institutes.

Then comes the question of the number who are practising, considered in this case under the sole criterion of attending the mosque on Friday. According to the last IFOP poll, a quarter of French Muslims (sic) say they attend.

It seems that in response to the Breivik massacre the Utopian establishment has decided to block out on one of the few remaining rays of freedom that manages to make it into our sunken cells: newspaper comments. The post below this one describes the new crackdown in Sweden. It looks as though the whole concept may have originated with the Socialist party in Norway, however.

The president of the Socialist party of the left, Kristin Halvorsen, has launched a campaign on Facebook in which people promise to denounce any abuse of language of a xenophobic character on the internet, particularly in the comments to articles in online newspapers.

This is a sinister new encroachment on our freedom. I personally have learned a lot from comments on the Daily Telegraph site; and, while I wouldn't say I've learned much from the Guardian's comments, it was the spectacle of censorship there that first started my political reorientation.

Maybe this will ultimately be a good thing, however. I read that Fjordman's embrace of the Counterjihad started when his letters to newspapers on Islamic topics were censored. I imagine that there may have been similarly formative experiences in the life stories of many of those now prominent in the Counterjihad movement. Censorship is a kind of political murder. It provokes anger. And that anger may ultimately take productive forms.

Several major Swedish newspapers have introduced restrictions to the comment functions in their discussion forums in an attempt to gain better control and limit racism, sexism and personal attacks.

Expressen has decided to close the possibility to comment on articles in real-time discussion forums on its website. Posts will instead be pre-moderated and not removed afterwards as is the current practice.

The newspaper wants to keep a better check on what is being written and hopes to avoid racist comments and personal attacks, the editor-in-chief Thomas Mattson wrote on his blog.

Mattsson and associate editor-in-chief Per-Anders Broberg will be legally responsible for the posts.

Thomas Mattsson explained that he hopes that the new policy will lead to greater transparency and that more people become involved under their full identities.

"The Internet is ripe for the audience, but the audience is not ripe for the internet."

"It is not an easy decision for a liberal newspaper to state that, for a period of time, it is to limit people's ability to express themselves, but we must take a responsibility for those that feature in our articles will not be subjected to derogatory comments and that the network does not become a forum covert racism."

Mattsson argued that there the offenders are a small, but vocal group of anonymous users.

"There is a small group who use the forum which is to publish personal attacks and racist or illegal argument that are contrary to the good tone that all the media are seeking."

Expressen's new policy states that for a while there will be fewer articles that readers will have the opportunity to comment on, and that posts will be reviewed before being published.

According to Thompson, the debate over moderating comments has been ongoing for a long time and he expects more media firms to follow suit.

"I think that everyone who sees the potential of the internet considers it a failure that one can not entrust the web users to comment freely because there are a few who abuse the system," he said.

"Several xenophobic commentators have accused me of censorship and said that the media want to stifle debate on integration policy, but it's about complying with the laws. It is possible to discuss the integration policy, but without personal attacks and racist comments."

Dagens Nyheter has also announced a decision to temporarily turn off the ability to comment on articles online. The newspaper will introduce a new log in system in October which will require registration and email addresses and until then all of the discussion forums will be closed.

"It will not be as anonymous as before but it is a threshold in order to raise the level of comments. We have seen that there have been posts that have grossly violated the policy we have. It can, for example, concern racist remarks," said DN's editor Gunilla Herlitz.

She expects the number of commentators to be smaller with the new system.

"There will obviously be consequences. At the same time we note that many of the newspaper's articles are spread in other ways, by sharing on Facebook and other sites so the comment function is perhaps less important," Herlitz said.

Sweden's largest newspaper by circulation, Aftonbladet, has also announced restrictions on the freedom to post anonymous comments online.

The newspaper plans to present its new policy on Tuesday, with a statement informing readers that anyone who wants to comment on articles can still do so, but with a log in via their Facebook profile.

I am delighted to send my best wishes to Muslims in Britain and across the world as they mark the end of the month of Ramadan.

Eid ul Fitr celebrates the completion of a month of fasting, prayer, devotion and charitable giving. It is a fitting time to remember all those who are in need around the world, in particular those who are struggling to build a better future for their societies in the Middle East and North Africa.

So to Muslims around the world on this very important day of celebration, I send my very best and wish you Eid Mubarak.”

Ginés Quiñonero, president of the Orson Welles neighbourhood association, claims the rioting was the inevitable result of the government's policy of settling third-world immigrants in the neighbourhood. He claims the government has ignored complaints about uncontrolled immigration for years.

Now it is clear who rules here: the Nigerians.

Quiñonero notes that his letter to the government requesting a meeting so that he and the other locals could explain what was happening in the area had gone unanswered. Until yesterday. Now a meeting has suddenly been scheduled for later in the week.

This is not the first time riots have broken out in Mallorca. Two years ago there was "open urban warfare" as tensions between Nigerians and gypsies reached boiling point.

Note the English-language sign held up by this negro.

SENATOR ABIKE DABIRI PLS COME TO OUR AID. WE NEED JUSTICE FOR EFOSA.

Efosa is the dead negro. His full name was Efosa Okosun. According to Wikipedia, however, Abike Dabiri is a Nigerian politician, responsible for "Diaspora Affairs".

Abike Dabiri-Erewa, born in Jos, Plateau State is a Nigerian politician and member of the Nigeria Federal House of Representatives representing Ikorodu Constituency in Lagos State. She was the Chairman of the House Committee on Media & Publicity. She is currently the chairman of House Committee on Diaspora Affairs.

Polices sources say, however, that there is no indication of foul play. They believe the Nigerian fell while trying to move from one balcony to the next, after a pipe he was gripping broke away.

Consider the absurdity of this. In Britain, we recently saw alien riots break out when a gun-carrying criminal of immigrant origin was killed by the police. In France, it is even worse. Riots were provoked once when a Muslim criminal was killed after he had robbed a casino at gunpoint and was trying to make his getaway while shooting at the police. But now they're doing it for simple accidents! A negro falls to his death by pure chance and his African compatriots go on a rampage, attacking the police and trying to turn it into an international cause celebre! How crazy is this?

According to El Pais, three out of ten of the residents of the Son Gotleu neighbourhood are of African origin.

Last night, in a ridiculous multicult gesture, supposed representatives of the Nigerian and gypsy "communities" walked round the neighbourhood together in a symbolic show of unity.

The Times decides to cover the Marseilles crime wave. No mention of the Muslim factor of course.

The biggest football club in France was relieved yesterday by the arrival of a transfer reputedly capable of ending the disruption that hit last season.

President Sarkozy sent one of his toughest advisers to Marseilles to tackle a crime wave which is blighting the city’s reputation and undermining the aspirations of its First Division side. Alain Gardère, 54, was appointed chief of police after a spate of murders, muggings and robberies.

Police said that there were more Kalashnikov rifles in France’s second city than in Kabul.

Ten Olympique de Marseille players have been robbed by gangs recently. Lucho González, the Argentine midfielder, plans to leave before the transfer deadline after robbers broke into his home, threatened him and his girlfriend and stole jewellery, credit cards and his Bentley.

Vitorino Hilton, the club’s Brazilian defender, obtained a transfer to Montpellier this month after six robbers held ten of his relatives hostage and beat him over the head with a rifle butt in July. They took cash, jewellery, computers and designer bags.

José Anigo, the sporting director of the club, said: “Every time I signed a player this year the first questions they asked were ‘can you guarantee security?’ and ‘are my family at risk?’ Bringing players to Marseilles in those conditions is complicated. You have to be a magician.”

Officials say that 26 people are assaulted every day in the city, which recorded a 19 per cent increase in armed robberies last year compared with 2009. Burglaries increased by 40 per cent over the same period and there were 84 murders or attempted murders.

Jean-Marie Allemand, of the Alliance police union, said: “There have always been criminals in Marseilles, but before they were members of big gangs and they targeted each other. Now, the bullets are flying all over the place.”

Nigerians go on the rampage and attack police after one of their own is found dead. The dead negro on the pavement, a Nigerian, fell from the fifth floor of a building. It's not known definitively whether the fall was an accident or deliberate; however, his Nigerian compatriots claim he was thrown off by some gypsies.

The disturbances lasted for three hours. Note the bizarre, savage ululations of the Nigerian onlookers as the corpse is taken away to Dead Negro Storage.

Apparently the Nigerians were complaining that the police mounted raids on negroes but not on gypsies. This is why they attacked the police. The Nigerians claimed that there had been a fight in the building involving gypsies before the negro fell.

However, the police currently believe that the death was just an accident and that the dead negro had been trying to climb from one flat to another using a gas pipe which gave way under his weight.

The neighbourhood Son Gotleu has been massively colonised by immigrants in recent years and is considered a problem area. There is constant conflict there among the different groups of immigrants.

According to the normal market rules of supply and demand, rents ought to fall in a recession. But when you have hundreds of thousands of people pouring into the country each year who aren't playing by the rules of the market, that logic no longer applies.

Tenants are bracing themselves for more pain, with most expecting rents to rise over the next 12 months, driven upwards by an acute lack of supply and a doubling in demand.

The most pessimistic tenants are forecasting increases of more than 10 per cent, according to a survey published today by Rightmove, the website. The squeeze is compelling young people to shoehorn extra flatmates into a property to pay the bills. In future some priced-out tenants could be forced to become lodgers — or go back to the parental home.

Rents stand at a record high, up by an average of 4.2 per cent since July last year in England and Wales and by 7.1 per cent in London, as measured by LSL Property Services’ buy-to-let index.

Even though it is not in office, the Danish People's Party has won significant influence over the Danish government by offering parliamentary support in return for concessions in areas it cares about, such as immigration. As a result, Denmark now has what is probably the tightest immigration regime in Europe. But the right-wing establishment party is trying to break free of this dependency and offering to open up the borders to win over the Left.

Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the Conservative Party Lars Barfoed says he is prepared to relax immigration legislation in order to make it easier for foreign labour to come to Denmark.

The move comes following the weekend announcement of a pact between the Conservatives and Social Liberals to end bloc politics and drag the centre-right and centre-left towards the centre of Danish parliamentary politics and away from reliance on the far right or far left.

“As we go forward we are facing some different challenges, which among other things are those connected to a need for labour. Businesses are stressing this as a challenge in the next few years. Denmark must be seen as an open country where it is easy to recruit the employees you need,” Barfoed says.

“It is too early to say what will happen on the legislation front. I just think that going forward we can find a policy with other parties in Parliament on issues that address immigration policy,” Barfoed adds.

Barfoed’s statements are a further challenge to the Danish People’s Party, whose loyal support has been instrumental in keeping the Liberal-Conservative government in power for the past decade.

“We have introduced the restrictions that are necessary. There is no need for further restrictions,” Barfoed says.

The Danish People’s Party says the new policy line from the Conservatives means that immigration policy will be relaxed.

“If you don’t let legislation follow with the times, you surrender your ability to close the holes that may develop. If you don’t act in time, developments overtake you. Situations develop all the time that require you to close the holes,” says DPP Deputy Chairman Peter Skaarup.

The Danish People’s Party is to present a new catalogue of immigration demands and initiatives at a news conference later today.

The party is expected to call for fewer asylum centres in Denmark, and more in the regions that people are attempting to escape from – an idea Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen (Lib) has already rejected. Demands are also expected to include new requirements on foreigners in Denmark, including what is being called ‘turbo integration’.

Barfoed says he is prepared to cooperate with a centre-left government on all political issues.

“From foreign policy, to culture policy to economic policy. We are looking for influence on all policies, irrespective of which government leads the country,” Barfoed says.

The election posters of several Muslim MP candidates were painted over with Islamist slogans in various districts and suburbs of Copenhagen (Tingbjerg, Nørrebro and Brønshøj). These include Yildiz Akdogan of the Social-Democrats and Özlem Cekic and Kamal Qureshi of the Socialist People's Party.

Yildiz Akdogan told Newspaq that she's very upset since she thinks it's an attack against democracy.

The politicians say the religiously motivated vandalism was done by people linked to Hizb ut-Tahrir.

Chadi Freigeh, spokesperson for the group, denies the accusations and says those are "baseless claims, motivated by an extreme need to get media attention."

Of course, once these illegals receive Polish citizenship, they will have the right to live and work in Britain.

(WARSAW) - European Union member Poland which is also part of the 25-state Schengen free travel zone on Friday granted amnesty to some of the estimated 50-70,000 illegal migrants believed to be living on its territory.

"We want Poland to be an open, hospitable and friendly country for those who are looking for the opportunity of a better life here," Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski told reporters after having signed the amnesty Friday.

Approved in parliament in late July, the amnesty law will come into force January 1, 2012 and migrants wishing to make use of its provisions have six months to register with Polish authorities.

The amnesty applies to foreign nationals residing in Poland illegally since at least December 20, 2007, as well as illegal migrants who were refused refugee status before January 1, 2010 but stayed on in Poland.

Citizens of neighbouring non-EU Ukraine make up the majority of illegal migrants residing in Poland followed by Georgians, Chechens and Armenians as well as Vietnamese and persons hailing from the Middle East.

Those seeking amnesty will gain residence rights for two years, including the right to legal employment.

The new law also streamlines procedures for persons seeking refugee status in Poland.

Our increasingly totalitarian ruling class regards Enoch Powell as some kind of Emmanuel Goldstein, the people’s enemy number one in George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four. Even if nothing controversial in itself is said, to speak of him without visible and ritualistic loathing will bring you under suspicion of thought crime.

We therefore say this with regard to Enoch Powell. He was a classical scholar of great brilliance and distinction. His Lexicon to Herodotus (1938) is one of the most valuable works ever produced on the ancient historian. As well as in Latin and Greek, he was fluent in every main European language, and in Welsh. He was also at least competent in several ancient and modern oriental languages. In addition, he wrote a fine biography of Joseph Chamberlain, and was an expert on the mediaeval House of Lords.

During his long political career, he was notable for his defence of the British Constitution and of the traditional liberties that it embodied. He was an anti-socialist and an anti-corporatist. He resigned from one Conservative Government that was soft on spending and inflation. He helped bring down another that was a national disaster. He played an important part in stopping further ‘reforms’ to the House of Lords until the year of his death.

He opposed British membership of what became the European Union, and he regarded the American alliance as barely less undesirable. He opposed the Cold War and the First Gulf War. He believed in a United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. He was easily the best political speaker of his age.

The public reason for why he is so hated by our modern ruling class is that he opposed mass immigration and multiculturalism. Since the legitimizing ideology of this ruling class is based on the claim that ‘diversity’ is strength, and the threat of utter destruction for anyone who disagrees, his opposition might be sufficient reason for his being hated. Even so, much of the hatred rests on the envy of men and women who are themselves uneducated and illiterate and dishonourable and sordid and incompetent. Enoch Powell is hated in part because he dissented from the established view on immigration, but also because he was a shining example of what a statesman ought to be — and of what a statesman often approached to in this country before the present clique took over.—Sean Gabb, Director of the Libertarian Alliance, writing inThe Brussels Journal

AMERICA’S most controversial imam – the man at the centre of the storm over plans for the “Ground Zero Mosque” in New York last year – flew into Edinburgh yesterday to tell the Festival of Spirituality and Peace that greater integration between Islam and the West depends on the incorporation of Sharia law into the legal systems of the UK and the United States as well as Muslims adopting the culture of their host countries.

Many see Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf as an Islamic moderate even though he has been vilified in the US press as an apologist for radical Muslims. In an interview with the Sunday Herald, Rauf said he believes the world is in the grip of a “dangerous myth” and “self-fulfilling prophecy” that “Islam and the West are at war. But the real battleground is not between Islam and the West, but between the wise, fair-minded people of all faith traditions and the extremists.”

Although he is a pro-US imam who has argued that America is the embodiment of Islam’s ideal society, Rauf became a hate figure in the US over the so-called Ground Zero Mosque. The plan offended relatives of the victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and led to a US pastor proposing a “Burn a Koran day”.

Rauf says that when the project – a community centre containing a mosque – was announced on the front page of the New York Times [in December 2009] there was no reaction. But six months later, it was picked up by conservatives like Sarah Palin and became one of the most divisive subjects in US society. Rauf later said: “If I had known this would happen, cause this kind of pain, I wouldn’t have done it.”

Was he naïve? “What surprised me is that I’ve been in the United States for 46 years and I think of it as having a very strong concept of separation of church and society, and yet a house of worship was used in a political campaign,” Rauf said.

But most of his work is about dousing fires rather than fanning them. He often talks about the interweaving of Muslim and Western culture. Multi-culturalism, he believes, is the way forward, and the state we are globally shifting towards. America, he points out, has been more successful at this than Europe.

It is, he says, a paradigm because it is “structurally multi-cultural”. As he puts it: “Americans are predominantly hyphenated. They are Irish-Americans, Italian-Americans and so on. So there is a recognition and celebration of variety. That’s a very important factor in creating a space for Muslims to be integrated.” He notes that a greater percentage of Muslims in America are wealthy and highly educated and “those who are better off and educated have an easier time integrating”.

An essential element of this interweaving of cultures, he says, will have to be the incorporation of Sharia law into the legal systems of Europe and the US. In this, he is in agreement with the Archbishop of Canterbury who said that the adoption of some aspects of Sharia law “seems to be unavoidable”.

Rauf points out that “the only truly clashing area is the penal code, and no Muslim has the intention of introducing that to America. The penal code is the area that people in the Western world are worried about – but these are things that aren’t even observed today in most of the Muslim world. Apart from the Taliban and a few places like that, where do you see this happening?”.

In the UK, he says, we need to recognise that the radicalisation of Muslim youth is not a problem of religion. “You have to consider how we would approach it if these people were not Muslims, but were Christian, for instance. The source of the problem is not religion, but an economic one.”

Another myth which Rauf tries to counter is the idea that Islam is at odds with Western concepts of gender equality. “Look around the world, and you see six or seven predominantly Muslim countries that have had heads of governments and heads of state who were women. Glass ceilings have already been broken for many countries in the Muslim world.”

The rise of the extreme right in Europe is something he perceives as a “reaction of fear to a threat of the loss of identity”. He says: “What it means to be Dutch, or what it meant to be British, in terms of ethnicity or language, is undergoing a shift.” The tensions this provokes have to be “addressed by both the host community and the immigrant community ... We need to develop a local Muslim culture. Dutch Muslims have to become increasingly Dutch. The same for British Muslims. We should dress like the people of our country.”

His emphasis is always on what binds, not divides. “I’ve been around and seen a lot,” says the Kuwait-born Imam, who grew up in England. “The fact is that the Western world and Muslim world are very enmeshed ... To me those mutual interests are very bonding.”

Rauf supported the decision by Edinburgh City Council to ban the far-right Scottish Defence League from marching on the eve of the 10th anniversary of September 11, 2001 amid safety fears.

He also supported the Scottish Government’s decision to release the Lockerbie bomber.

Imam Feisal is to meet Glasgow MSP Humza Yousaf, who has been vocal on Muslim issues. He will hold a second talk in Glasgow on Wednesday, and will receive a peace award from the Festival, the city of Edinburgh, Edinburgh Interfaith Association and the Conference of Edinburgh’s Religious Leaders.

There was an anti-islamification event in Berlin today, organised under the auspices of the Pro Deutschland/Pro Berlin political movement, which is fielding several candidates in the upcoming Berlin elections. A few hundred people were in attendance, including Lars Seidensticker, a Pro Berlin candidate who was the victim of a recent acid attack while putting up campaign posters.

Despite far-left militants having previously incited violence against the "racists and fascists" they claimed would be present, the event passed off peacefully. No doubt this was due to the heavy police presence. The photo below shows the event area almost fully enclosed by police vans in the background.

It seems the American Tea Party activist Taylor Rose was not present after all, although a message from him was read out. I'm not sure of the reason for his absence. Perhaps Hurricane Irene?

Karl Ernst Hobol gave a good speech. There is a video of it that I may translate and subtitle later in the week if I can find the time. "Why is there no Hinduismphobia?" he asked.

Norway’s political parties have realized that the immigrant vote can make or break them as they head into the next national municipal elections on September 11-12. Several parties including the Conservatives and Labour are actively courting support from relatively new arrivals eligible to cast a ballot.

While only residents with Norwegian citizenship can vote in national elections, all legal residents of Norway can vote in municipal elections. That means that many more people are qualified to vote in the upcoming election than were those in national elections two years ago.

And indications are that record numbers of voters, both natives and immigrants, will cast their ballots. The terrorist attacks of July 22 have sparked extraordinary feelings of solidarity and belonging in Norway, also among those who weren’t born in Norway, and election observers are expecting a record turnout next month.

“We’re doing all we can to mobilize voters,” Libe Rieber-Mohn, who’s a candidate for the top city government position (byrådsleder) from the Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet), told newspaper Dagens Næringsliv (DN). She spent last weekend handing out roses and talking to prospective voters at a shopping center in Oslo’s Grorud district, known for having fairly heavy concentrations of non-ethnic Norwegian residents.

The Labour Party, featuring its legendary Finance Minister Per Kleppe, also is keen on securing the immigrant vote.

...Tor Bjørklund, a professor in political science, said he thinks few so-called “guest workers” in Norway will turn out to vote, not least because many are young and not so interested in local politics. But the immigrant vote remains important.

“In Oslo, there’s great potential to get the immigrants out to the polls,” he said. Rieber-Mohn and her Labour Party colleague, Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, even visited a cricket match during the summer where many Pakistani residents were represented. Rieber-Mohn has proposed establishing a permanent cricket field in the capital.

Yesterday a Mohammedan - a 36-year-old Iranian asylum seeker - attacked the Austrian parliament, brandishing a knife, throwing stones and taking a woman hostage. After entering the parliament through the visitor centre, he tried to gain access to the inner parts of building. When confronted, he took a woman hostage with a knife, barricaded himself inside the rooms belonging to the security staff and demanded to see the Austrian President, Heinz Fischer. After about 20 minutes, a special security force known as WEGA used stun grenades to subdue the man, who was then disarmed and arrested.

There seems to have been virtually no international coverage of this incident. The Austrian press refers to the man only as an "Iranian asylum seeker", "apparently mentally ill", "a man in his 40s". There is, of course, no mention of the fact that he is a Muslim and no consideration of the possibility that this was a jihad attack.

This recalls the incident in Britain in which the Labour MP Stephen Timms was stabbed by the jihadist Roshonara Choudhry. With the exception of the Daily Mail, all news reports described her only as a "21-year-old woman", omitting to mention the fact that she was a Muslim wearing traditional Muslim garb. We had to wait till her trial to find out that she was a jihad militant who had been inspired by the sermons of Anwar Al-Awlaki.

This is my translation of a French news article. Note how the journalist just accepts Muslim violence as normal and shifts the blame on to the Christians who were the victims of it. This is an area where Picasso used to live, a place where he created some of his most famous works. Now more than 80% Muslim.

Did they intend a provocation a few days from the end of Ramadan? Or are they simply naive visionaries? Difficilt to say. But what is certain is that this initiative of two representatives of an evangelical church in Ain has something puzzling about it.

On Wednesday evening they turned up in the Hauts de Vallauris area (former Zaïne) with bibles beneath their arms. Dressed in black, they knocked at the doors of the inhabitants – who are more than 80% Muslim – to speak to them about Resurrection, repentance, the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross… But all they got for it was the sacrifice of their car. Because, while they were trying to preach the Gospel, a group of youths from Zaïne attacked their Opel Meriva. They literally tore it to pieces: broken glass, fractured windscreen, doors smashed in, tyres burst…

Surprised, at least officially, the two Protestant evangelists filed a complaint at Vallauris police station.

(ANSAmed) - ROME - The despatching of immigrants, headed for the coasts of Lampedusa, many of whom died in the Sicily Channel, could be held against Colonel Gaddafi as ''an accusation he has to face. In my opinion, we are close to a new crime against humanity''. Italy's Foreign Minister, Franco Frattini, said on Friday.

Gaddafi's idea of transforming Lampedusa into a kind of 'hell', Mr Frattini noted, ''there is proof of this, there is evidence gathered by the TNC, which I have spoken to Prime Minister Jibril about. He will make them public''.

According to Mr Frattini, ''it was Gaddafi himself who repeatedly threatened to send an invasion of refugees as a weapon of vengeance against Europe and not just against Italy.

Unfortunately he did it, unfortunately thousands of refugees died at sea'' Mr Frattini argued.

For her part, Italy will assist Libya and the countries of sub-Saharan Africa to tackle the migrant emergency in North African countries where, as some estimates have it, one and a half million people are attempting to reach Europe, Mr Frattini said in a radio interview.

''The recipe is to aid immigrants of sub-Saharan Africa in their areas of origin, to bring development to their countries of origin and to help a country like Libya, which is not a country of origin for immigration, but is a a country of transit, to tackle this phenomenon''.

''We have already done this with Tunisia, when in February an enormous flux of people were escaping the Tunisian revolution, and Italy quickly sent its intervention to the temporary camp, even evacuating hundreds of people to their countries of origin to help them in the places they were born. The recipe is not to create great encampments here in Italy, where there are not enough jobs to go round, there is not possibility of welcoming them''.

''Up to now we have managed the 50,000 people who have arrived since January. We have done this with humanity, distinguishing between those who had a right to refugee status, who will remain, and those who were illegal economic migrants, who we accompanied to Tunisia, helping Tunisia to find a job for them. But the management of migration is a European issue, not a matter for Lampedusa, for Sicily or for Italy''.

The home secretary has agreed to a police request to ban the far-right English Defence League from staging a march through one of the UK’s biggest Muslim communities in east London. Theresa May said she would outlaw any marches in Tower Hamlets and four neighbouring boroughs—whether by the EDL or any other groups—for the next 30 days.

Nick Lowles, director of the anti-extremist campaign group Searchlight, called May’s decision a victory for common sense. He said: ‘The EDL clearly intended to use the proposed march to bring violence and disorder to the streets of Tower Hamlets. Their plan has been foiled.’—The Guardian

Englishmen are banned from marching through their capital city as Islam’s useful idiots in Parliament, Scotland Yard and the Church, together with their Searchlight accomplices, help the ummah win another victory.

Yesterday the local council in the Catalan city of Salt imposed a one-year moratorium on the granting of permits to construct new buildings for religious purposes. The initiative was motivated by a desire to disrupt plans to build a giant Salafist mosque in the city, permission for which had been secretly granted by the previous Socialist-controlled city council earlier in the year. Permits already issued are not affected by the moratorium, however. The Salafists (Al Hilal and Magrebins perla Pau) were granted a 6-month permit in March, which expires in three weeks. Unless they have presented concrete plans by then, they will have to apply for a new permit, which the moratorium will ensure they do not get (for one year at least). At the moment, they cannot go any further with the project because they do not have the funds. They have asked the Moroccan government for financial assistance, however, so it may be forthcoming.

As Josep Anglada, leader of the anti-Islam, anti-immigration party Plataforma per Catalunya (PxC), arrived yesterday at the council session where the moratorium was being debated, he was barracked and insulted by a crowd of aggressive Muslims and leftists. (See photo above.)

Today a court held an appeal against the ban on the anti-mosque protest that PxC had scheduled for tomorrow. The court upheld the ban, arguing that there was a serious risk of public disorder, citing the aggression directed towards Anglada yesterday and significant inter-communal tension that existed in the city.

The number of people born outside Britain but living in the country reached a record seven million last year as figures published yesterday cast doubt on whether the Government will meet its target to cut immigration.

More than one in eight of the country’s population was born outside the UK, a rise of two million in six years.

In London one third of residents was born outside the country and more than 55 per cent of births were to mothers born overseas.

The figures are a result of a decade of high net migration that continued last year with an increase of more than 20 per cent.

Net migration rose to 239,000 in 2010 as the number of people moving abroad fell, while the number of migrants from Eastern Europe coming to seek work increased eight-fold. The net migration figure — the difference between those leaving and those arriving to stay for more than a year — was the second highest annual figure.

Another statistic that jumps out of the ONS findings relates to Poles. In 2001, there were 896 babies born to Polish mothers in England and Wales; in 2010, there were 19,762. Meanwhile, births to Middle Eastern, African and Asian mothers amounted to 14.7 per cent – that’s twice the proportion of non-British European mothers. Add that 14.7 per cent to children born to non-white British mothers and within a few years, a quarter of young Britons will be black, Asian or of mixed race. In the capital, the total will be well over 50 per cent.

Biker gangs tend to be associated in the public mind with White Power-style racial exclusivity. The Muslims are now enriching us with an alternative perspective. In Germany, the Muslim biker gang phenomenon has been making headlines as sedate German suburbs are terrorised by the sound and violence associated with a group known as "the Mongols".

Although it claims to be ethnically diverse, all the indications are that it is Lebanese-led and Muslim-dominated. Police sources say its leadership consists of high-grade, violent criminals. In Bremen, a few months ago, the Mongols were involved in open street warfare with their rivals the Hell's Angels. A new chapter of their organisation has just been opened in the city of Kiel, something that has left the local residents less than enchanted.

On 14 August in Nice a traditional Catholic procession took place around the Our Lady of the Assumption basilica. This year, however, things were a bit different. The authorities decided that the event required police protection and officers were duly dispatched to line the entire route across its 300m length. Of course, this need for protection is the result of the Mohammedan colonisation of the city.

The Mohammedans, on the other hand, apparently do not need any police protection as they perform their street prayers in Nice every Friday. These prayers are illegal but the police refuse to intervene to stop them.

Reading through the list of the 102 academics who denounced Starkey as a thought criminal, it is clear they are D-graders at best. Not one has achieved any public distinction. If you type some of their names into Google, the only thing that comes up is this Starkey letter.
Most are from Mickey Mouse institutions:

John Callaghan, professor of politics and contemporary history, University of Salford

Others teach subjects that have no obvious relevance to the matter at hand:

Sophie Heywood, lecturer in French, University of Reading

Debbie Challis, Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, University College London

This is ironic, considering that they accuse Starkey of straying outside his field of expertise.

But since Starkey is an expert on the Elizabethan period, it can be assumed he imbibed some of Elizabeth I's wisdom on the matter of race relations (see below), and therefore can be considered a guru on the subject himself.

Her Majestie understanding that there are of late divers blackmoores brought into this realme, of which kinde of people there are allready here to manie…Her Majesty's pleasure therefore ys that those kinde of people should be sent forth of the lande, and for that purpose there ys direction given to this bearer Edwarde Banes to take of those blackmoores that in this last voyage under Sir Thomas Baskervile were brought into this realme the nomber of tenn, to be transported by him out of the realme. Wherein wee require you to be aydinge and assysting unto him as he shall have occacion, therof not to faile.

In David Starkey's regular appearances on BBC's Newsnight, Newsnight Review and Question Time, he is introduced as "the historian, David Starkey", just as Emily Maitlis introduced him on the Newsnight discussion of the recent English riots. As a group of professional historians, academics and graduate students, we therefore feel it is reasonable to critique his contribution as that of a historian, rather than a celebrity.

According to the BBC, the aim of the discussion was to examine "the causes of the recent riots and looting". One might therefore ask the following question: if a historian is to be involved in a discussion of rioting in modern Britain intended to explore issues of race and class, why choose one whose education, research and publications are at such a remove from these topics? In our opinion, it was a singularly poor choice: Starkey has professed himself to be a historian of elites, and his academic work has never focused on race and class - in fact, he has rejected those approaches. We are thus unsurprised by the poverty of his reductionist argument, which reflected his lack of understanding of the history of ordinary life in modern Britain. It was evidentially insupportable and factually wrong.

In response to written complaints about the programme and Starkey's part in it, the BBC has asserted that it "is not Newsnight's job to censor the views of our guests; the programme would rather challenge them in a robust way on air, and allow viewers to draw their own conclusions". Elsewhere in this response, our attention is drawn to the way in which "Emily Maitlis directly challenged David Starkey's views on a number of occasions", and the fact that "guests Owen Jones and Dreda Say Mitchell clearly took exception to...Starkey's opinions and were given ample time and space to make their disagreements heard".

These issues are not in dispute. The problem lies in the BBC's representation of Starkey's views as those of a "historian", which implies that they have some basis in research and evidence: but as even the most basic grasp of cultural history would show, Starkey's views as presented on Newsnight have no basis in either. In particular, his crass generalisations about black culture and white culture as oppositional, monolithic entities demonstrate a failure to grasp the subtleties of race and class that would disgrace a first-year history undergraduate. In fact, it appears to us that the BBC was more interested in employing him for his on-screen persona and tendency to make comments that viewers find offensive than for his skills as a historian.

In addition to noting that a historian should argue from evidence rather than assumption, we are also disappointed by Starkey's lack of professionalism on Newsnight. Instead of thoughtfully responding to criticism, he simply shouted it down; instead of debating his fellow panellists from a position of knowledge, he belittled and derided them. On Newsnight, as on other appearances for the BBC, Starkey displayed some of the worst practices of an academic, practices that most of us have been working hard to change.

We the undersigned would therefore ask that the BBC and other broadcasters think carefully before they next invite Starkey to comment as a historian on matters for which his historical training and record of teaching, research and publication have ill-fitted him to speak. If his celebrity and reputation for giving offence still persuade producers that he is worth the money, we would not seek to censor him nor determine their choices: however, we would ask that he is no longer allowed to bring our profession into disrepute by being introduced as "the historian, David Starkey" when commenting on issues outside his fields of expertise.

Alun Munslow, professor of history and historical theory (UK editor, Rethinking History: The Journal of Theory and Practice)

Paul Gilroy, Anthony Giddens professor of social theory, London School of Economics

Derek Sayer, professor of cultural history, Lancaster University

Stephen Constantine, professor of modern British history, Lancaster University

Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the emir of Dubai, plans to build the world's third-largest mosque at the Plaza de Toros in Barcelona. This is currently a famous bull-ring, known as the Monumental, which is a significant work of architecture (admittedly in a neo-Moorish style) in its own right. Last year, the Catalan government voted to ban bull-fighting, however, and it should cease completely by 2012, with the bull ring forced to shut down.

The emir of Dubai has presented proposals to transform the bull-ring into the world's third-largest mosque after those in Mecca and Medina. The plans envisage a prayer room that could accommodate 40,000 people, an open air gathering place for 80,000 people, a conference room, a museum of Islamic history and art, a centre for research on the history of Al Andalus (Muslim-ruled Spain), a restaurant, shops and a centre for Koranic studies.

It is clear the Muslims have marked Spain for recolonisation, following the Muslim precept that once territory is part of the Dar al-Islam, it should never again be allowed to fall into infidel hands.

It is estimated construction would cost 2,200 million euros. This is particularly surreal in view of the fact that this emir ran up extraordinary debts building up his own pseudo-city in its recent construction boom. Once western banks had lent him the money to pay western construction companies to do the building, however, he simply disowned the debts. Because he had arranged the whole thing through front companies, it did not trigger sovereign default or affect his own personal wealth. The debts had been incurred by these front companies on the understanding that the sovereign wealth of Dubai stood behind them, but when it came to the crunch, they were disavowed.

This Dubai construction boom episode probably amounts to what was, in effect, the biggest Muslim wealth-plundering razzia since the sack of Byzantium. But now this epic Muslim con artist wants to do some more damage to the infidels by putting down a marker for the Muslim re-colonisation of Spain!

The Metropolitan Police initially expressed reluctance to apply for a ban but changed their mind after a meeting with Tower Hamlets' Muslim mayor Lutfur Rahman. So the Met now takes its orders from Muslim wackos.

Scotland Yard is today applying to the Home Office for a ban on the English Defence League marching through London’s East End on September 3.

The decision comes from the Acting Metropolitan Police Commissioner following a campaign by political, religious and community leaders.

It follows Tower Hamlets Mayor Lutfur Rahman last Friday threatening legal action if the Met Police didn’t apply for a ban and a 25,000-name door-to-door petition organised by the Hope Not Hate campaign handed in to Scotland Yard last week.

“The Home Secretary knows the strength of feeling in the East End,” Mayor Rahman told the East London Advertiser this-afternoon.

“I feel humbled by all the support from community leaders and the public across London for the ban.

“The police have listened to the concerns of the East End. Now it’s up to Theresa May to see it through.

“She knows we don’t want the EDL coming here.”

Scotland Yard confirmed it is “in the process” of applying for the ban which covers five London boroughs, including Tower Hamlets, for a period of 30 days from September 2—the day before the EDL said it was coming to Whitechapel.

But there are fears even a ban won’t prevent trouble on the streets. The EDL has told the Advertiser its supporters will turn up for a protest under the ‘Right of Assembly’ in the event of a ban, which cannot be prevented.

This is demographic warfare. There is a net loss of Britishness of about 1,000,000 people each year. That's almost 2% of the population. How long can Britain sustain becoming 2% less British each year?

The increase from 198,000 in 2009 was fuelled by a fall in the number of people leaving the UK and goes against the Government's pledge to bring net migration down to the tens of thousands by 2015.

Long-term immigration was 575,000, similar to the levels seen since 2004, while long-term emigration fell to 336,000 from 427,000 in 2008, estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed.

Study remained the most common reason for those coming to the UK, with three in four of the 228,000 who come to the UK for study coming from outside the EU.

But the number of people coming to the UK for a definite job was at its lowest in more than six years, at 110,000.

And the number of those leaving the UK for work-related reasons was at its lowest for three years at 179,000, the ONS estimates showed.The increase from 198,000 in 2009 was fuelled by a fall in the number of people leaving the UK and goes against the Government's pledge to bring net migration down to the tens of thousands by 2015.

Long-term immigration was 575,000, similar to the levels seen since 2004, while long-term emigration fell to 336,000 from 427,000 in 2008, estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed.

Study remained the most common reason for those coming to the UK, with three in four of the 228,000 who come to the UK for study coming from outside the EU.

But the number of people coming to the UK for a definite job was at its lowest in more than six years, at 110,000.

And the number of those leaving the UK for work-related reasons was at its lowest for three years at 179,000, the ONS estimates showed.

The number of people granted settlement in the UK reached a record 241,000 last year, partly due to the number of people being allowed to stay as the backlog of asylum cases was cleared, other figures published by the Home Office showed.

Work-related grants of settlement also reached a record last year of 84,000, reflecting high numbers admitted for work five years earlier.

But figures for the first half of this year showed an 8 per cent fall in the number of people being granted settlement, down to 208,000, with falls in both the work and family categories.

A total of 195,000 people were granted British citizenship last year, down from the record high of 204,000 in 2009 but more than double the level of a decade earlier.

The number of people applying for asylum also fell in 2010, but has started to rise again this year with 4,800 applications between April and June, up 9 per cent from the same quarter in 2010, mainly due to an increase in applications from Pakistan and Libya, the figures showed.

Immigration Minister Damian Green said: "After almost two years of increasing net migration the figures stabilised in the last quarter.

"This explains why the Government radically changed immigration policy, from our first months in office, to drive the numbers down with a limit on economic migration and changes to student visas to ensure we attract the brightest and best whilst tackling widespread abuse of the system.

"We are currently consulting on a range of further measures which will drive down numbers further.

"These statistics cover a period before we introduced our radical changes to the immigration system to bring net migration back down to the tens of thousands."

Alexander Segert, the talented advertising specialist behind the "Bye Bye Mosque" flash game that was used to great effect by the Austrian Freedom Party (FPO), has been subjected to an arson attack at his home in Switzerland.

A vehicle, pictured above, was set on fire outside his home. According to the fire brigade, emergency personnel were only narrowly able to prevent it spreading to the building where Segert, his wife, children and guests were staying.

Segert is the genius behind many of the Swiss People's Party's famous advertising campaigns and posters. A few of his greatest hits are featured below.

Because information about the incident, along with helpful address details in case anyone wanted to carry out any more violence, was posted on the left-wing Indymedia site before police had made any details of it public, it is strongly suspected that far-left militants were behind the attack.

Non-immigrant Dutch people say they want their children to grow up in a multicultural society, but would actually prefer their own kids to live in a white neighbourhood and go to a non-mixed school.

This is the conclusion of research carried out by the monthly magazine J/M voor Ouders. A cross-section of parents, 588 in all, were interviewed for the piece.

The magazine says 80 percent of the parents acknowledge the advantages of growing up in a society made up of different cultures. However, 57 percent worry about the position of their white children in a mixed-race society.

A new police commissioner has just been appointed in Marseilles to attempt to get a grip on the city's skyrocketing crime levels. The police themselves, close to despair at the situation that confronts them each day, have no confidence that anything is going to change, however. Dominique Achispon, general secretary of the police trade union, observes, "Security is more than just a single man."

Jean-Marie Allemand, another police trade union official, observes:

"There have always been criminals in Marseilles but, before, they came from the organised crime milieu and settled accounts among themselves. But today it's all gone large calibre, in every sense. There are more Kalashnikovs in Marseilles than in the centre of Kabul."

As police forces across Europe can no longer hold the line against the third world hordes, Europeans are forced to contemplate defending themselves.

As night-time car arsons in Berlin continue unabated, some citizens are calling for neighbourhood groups to prowl the streets looking for culprits, an idea that appears to be gaining ground.

The idea for citizen patrols has gained support during the week-long spate of arson in the German capital, which have left dozens of cars, mostly expensive models, burned out.

More than 300 vehicles have now been set alight since the beginning of the year, including five overnight Sunday.

Police have struggled to deal with the crisis, but the city actually assigns more people to give out traffic tickets than track down the car arsonists, according to the daily newspaper Die Welt.

Many people told the newspaper they were ready to join citizens’ groups to combat the attacks, because the government isn’t doing enough.

Some have suggested that neighbours begin carrying weapons and go on the hunt for perpetrators. Others have suggested a less vigilante-style response with simple unarmed neighbourhood patrols.

One 72-year-old who lives with his wife in the Berlin’s Westend district told Die Welt that residents have been debating what to do over the last few days. His idea is for a citizens’ patrol to go out for about an hour per night per night. It would alert police if it sees anything suspicious.

“Some residents here want to arm themselves,” he said. “What we need here is a kind of militia.”

Some people appear to be looking to London as a model, where many community groups lost confidence in police and formed successful vigilante groups to combat recent riots.

In Berlin, Burkhard Dregger, a politician with the centre-right Christian Democratic Union has long called for a special auxiliary police made up of volunteers that would have uniforms, batons and handcuffs.

But others have raised concerns about the idea, even as they acknowledge that police are struggling.

Klaus Eisenreich of the GdP police union said the local government has “failed” to find a solution. But, he said, bringing an end to the burnings should still be the responsibility of the police.